Obscene rent increase

[user97213982742]

Landlord has served Form 4a increasing my rent by £205 a month from October. This is a 46% increase.

The accompanying letter states

“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to implement an increase in the rent. This reflects the continued rise in property maintenance and operating costs, aligns the rent more closely with current market values, and will help support planned maintenance and improvement works to ensure the property is kept up as best as possible with future regulatory changes to the private rent sector”.

I understand that maintenance costs and improvements are the landlords responsibility and shouldn’t be a reason for a rent increase. And it is the landlords responsibility to ensure property meets the forthcoming EPC standards coming into force for private rented accommodation.

My wages haven’t increased by 46% a month.

I’ve lived here for 20 years. And the property only has one door. No fire doors, only 1 double glazed window that has blown, and does not meet fire escape route standards If there was a fire downstairs I have no other means of exit?

What can I do please

It's still a business. The main aim of a businesses is to make profit.

It makes no sense for a property company or individual to have rental properties for private let and NOT run the property business in a profitable manner.

I'm not sure why you cannot understand how businesses work, it's really not difficult.

The new owner of the property business has obviously reviewed the financials, seen that the properties are achieving well under market rates, and is now getting them inline with market rates, this should not come as a shock to you, it's basic business sense.

You sounds really clueless when it comes to property business financials/taxation.

Perhaps read up on it before making such silly comments as if you think you know about it, you're embarrassing yourself.

And to add, a LL has NO obligation to justify their business expenses to tenants, if a tenant asked me for proof of my expenses, I'd tell them to mind their own bloody business.

You're the one speaking nonsense, you clearly have no clue of what a business is all about.

Why do people think that a private rental property business is the only business who shouldn't be allowed to make profit - the mind boggles.

i Was going to blame the renters rights act as I have had to increase my tenant’s rent for the first time ever, after coughing up over £1400 in fees for the license that is me confirming I do what I already do. The agent assessed the tenant pays £700 pcm under market, and tried to get me to go up £400 and I asked them to increase it by £150 pcm but I wouldn’t have done it if not for Labour taking more than a month’s rent off me for no benefit to the tenant.

if you can find somewhere nicer for your current rent or less than the new proposed amount, go for it.

I was paying that for a 2 bed in Gateshead 2 years ago. Now in a town close by and pay 550 for a 2 bed flat in good shape.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a78be4ae5274a2acd189739/2173283.pdf this is the report for 2010 and it has the percentage as 43%

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/privaterentalaffordabilityengland/2023 this is for 34% in 2023

https://www.statista.com/statistics/752217/household-rent-to-income-ratio-by-region-uk/ and 36% for 2025

I'm teetotal and don't feel I was rude in the comment you quoted.

As for my business credentials, I have a business degree from a prestigious UK university, I have worked in a senior management capacity for multi-million pound businesses in the UK, and I now own two successful businesses, one of which is a property business.

Does that satisfy you that I am qualified to comment on this thread?

ETA - I also have my accountancy business tax qualification!

@ReadingSoManyThreads - There are some strange ideas about business on Mumsnet. I was once assured that a business reducing its costs whilst its income was fixed would not result in increased profit. The idea that profit was the amount by which income exceeded expenditure was met with scornful derision by some posters.

Even with the steep increase your rent seems INCREDIBLY cheap to me. In my city a 2 bedroom flat is around £1800 a month. £650 is a small single room in a house share. I imagine that wages in my city are not three times what they are where you live so presumably it’s still comparatively very affordable?

Housing costs generally at the moment though are really high so “comparatively affordable” I’m aware doesn’t necessarily translate into easily affordable.

I think there’s a large group of people who’ve never known anything but living on benefits, you can tell by the odd world view and just utter inability to grasp how things work from business to tax to mortgages to motivation for why people even work so hard. It’s really quite worrying

You’ll have to leave. We’ve been evicted because landlord doesn’t want to update the property because of the new rules

Op has nothing to lose by applying to the tribunal regardless of the result. She will gain herself 4-6 months of breathing space to look about at other properties and make plans. The rent cannot go up by other than what the LL proposes.

In her place I would contact all the other tenants in the block to urge them to do the same. Make the LL deal with a tribunal challenge from every tenant. and work for their bloody money.

This creates a massive administrative and financial burden for the landlord. When an entire block challenges a rent increase simultaneously, the workload multiplies exponentially because the landlord must defend each valuation individually. The landlord must provide separate market evidence, comparable properties, and documentation for every single flat or dwelling. They cannot use a single blanket defence; they must account for varying floor levels, views, sizes, and internal wear for each unit. Handling dozens or hundreds of tribunal bundles requires immense time, tracking, and organization. Hiring lawyers or surveyors to manage a block-wide dispute (or even getting an agent to do it) quickly becomes incredibly expensive.

You can’t even get anything that cheap in the worst parts of Glasgow!

So what?

It is not an apartment block. They are individual properties

On the face of it it’s a massive increase but the only reason it’s that big is because the original rent was unusually low

as others said the only issue really is a blown double glazed unit the prop is hardly neglected and you aren’t living in squalor

I see companies like this advertising on the LL forums, Sell your portfolio to us and we will manage your tenants. No need to evict them, Bla bla bla. Small landlords who want to get out of the market (but don't want to evict good tenants) fall for this and sell up.

Portfolio buy-out schemes often exploit tenanted properties by offering low prices and hiking rents to force tenants out without formal evictions. These companies typically use strategies like aggressive rent increases and minimal upgrades to target vulnerable occupants. Most will leave without a fight because they can't afford the new rents and don't know their tribunal rights. Its not like the new owners have modernised all the properties. brought them up to standard and then seek to recoup their investment. They are doing it up front to drive out the existing tenants who are the "kind" they don't want.

If your neighbours have been hit with a similar increase then you can still go for it. There is strength in numbers and if nothing else you will inflict maximum financial pain on the purchaser and force them into a long drawn out battle which will cost them in the pocket where it hurts.

I would do this in a heartbeat because I am a bitch.

Plenty of properties around 600-700 round here for those who are desperate to have cheaper rent

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91512990?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=lettings&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_LET

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91249920?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=lettings&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_LET

It does sound like the OP’s rent was below market rate for some time.

Even of OP appeals, whatever the rate is ultimately set at now, I think OP should be prepared for the allowed annual increase to be applied every year. The corporate LL is a different beast…

I work in an industry where I am reasonably familiar with the small LL and rental income - all of the LL I have experience of are good and maintain the properties well.

Recently we have seen numerous smaller LL selling up properties that had long term, (generally) good, tenants, whose rent had not been increased on a long time. The tenants were evicted so that the properties could be sold as normal domestic residences.

However, one LL did have a tenant who was still in receipt of housing benefit (if that’s the correct term), but had stopped paying rent. It took around two years of legal fees and correspondence etc to evict them.

The increased regulation and lack of support for (good) LL does seem to be impacting the small LL market, with a steady stream selling up.

The government / MN may not like LL, but until local authorities provide an alternative, it would be much more sensible to work with LL rather then create the scenario where a significant number are leaving and reducing the rental supply further. This in itself will increase rental market rate…

I would hazard a guess that it will be more of the ‘good’ LL selling up - as the ‘bad’ ones who don’t stick to the rules now, won’t in future either.

I'm handllng a case for a relative now who is opposing a rent increase. She has had rent rises year on year (with no improvement to the property) but has reached her financial limit. As a pensioner she has no way to improve her income. In this case the problem is not the LL who is risk averse, anything for a quiet life and lazy. Has left everything to an agent who had made egregious errors over the course of the tenancy. The LL does not know about these errors but they could cost her thousands of pounds in fines if/when revealed to the various regulatory bodies. The agent could lose his shitty little business in a heartbeat. Think trading standards and possible police involvement. We have gone in with a low token offer, mentioning the tribunal but nothing about the errors. That may come later in the bargaining sequence if iI have to begin to twist the knife. I am enjoying this sooooo much.

Your taxes are also being used to fund people’s lifestyles who can’t be bothered to work, your taxes are being used to give these unemployed people subsidised council/HA housing, your taxes are being used to prop up salaries because feckless ex husbands/partners refuse to pay for the children they’ve created. I could go on.
Personally, I find feckless fathers revolting. How could you do that to your own child?

Op try and see if you can negotiate with your ll. Perhaps offer to meet them half way. Or move - but bear in mind you’ll need 5 weeks’ deposit and perhaps a home owning guarantor and will need to meet the rent affordability criteria. Since the RRA lls are being stricter on who they rent to.

It’s what so many posters on here claim they want though, no more private landlords.
So this is the alternative. Slow hand clap.

Your taxes aren’t paying anyone’s mortgage
they are paying for someone to be housed

practically all businesses are financed the Issa brothers who own Asda are financed to the hilt been I bought a loaf of bread I’m not paying there mortgage
just like when you rent a flat your paying for a service irrespective of how it’s financed
out of interest if the LL has no mortgage should the flat be free to rent

I agree with the maths. I was beginning to think I was being dense.